Fairly recently I discovered a number of people who were using the same surname as I was, but with an "e" on the end. Clearly, at least to my thinking, they must be related so I set about trying to research this family.

I have yet to link them in to the main family tree, but I have no doubt that they are a branch of the Kingshott family.

John Richard Kingshott

The earliest member of this family that I can find is John Richard Kingshott, born in 1861 in Paddington, London, England. He seems to suddenly appear in the 1881 census where he is working as a Telegraph Engineer and living at 33 Upper Brunswick Street, Halifax, Yorkshire. The census confirms where and when he was born, though I cannot yet find him in any earlier records, which is very strange.

I have a copy of his wedding certificate which I bought hoping that it would assist me. Unfortunately it didn't! I cannot trace the named father either. Click on the image to view a larger version. It may take a while to download though.

The certificate shows that John was married, on the 26th December 1882, at the Stannary Congregational Church in Halifax. He married Ellen Smith and they were both aged 21 years. On the certificate, John's father is recorded as John Edward Kingshotte (deceased), also an engineer. Strangely, I can find no trace whatsoever of this man either! Very mysterious indeed.

I find him again, at the time of the 1891 census, living at 51 Egerton Street, Hulme, Lancashire. He is a Foreman Electrical Instrument Maker and is living there with his family. He then disappears from my radar and is not present with the rest of his family at the time of the 1901 and 1911 censuses.

Wherever he went, John & Ellen Kingshotte had at least 9 children between 1882 and 1898, all born in the north of England, most of them in Lancashire. In addition, it seems that John Richard Kingshotte also entered into an illegitimate "liaison" with a lady called Eliza Magee, the result of which was a boy, William Arthur Kingshotte, who was born on Erdington, Warwickshire on 13th June 1894. 

Descendants of John Richard Kingshotte can be seen here.

There are a small number of Kingshotte's around today, all descended from this family. I would love to hear from someone in this branch, and would be especially interested to link them in to the wider family. I still have a lot of work to do on them and I am only just starting really. If you can help me please drop me a line.